Even Geniuses Are Young
by Nekotsume
Summary: Itachi doesn't quite understand his newly appointed Akatsuki partner. Why is it that he reminds the Uchiha of someone so unlikely? My very first fanfic ever...so please review. Shounen ai, ItaKisa...or maybe KisaIta. Oneshot.


Author's Notes: This is my first fanfic ever. I guess it's not that original… But that's the way my inspiration went. And it was the first romantic scene for me….ever. Constructive criticism would be appreciated.

Disclaimer: Kisame, Itachi and the whole Naruto thing belong to Kishimoto Masashi-sama.

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**Even geniuses are young**

Two figures dressed in long, dark coats and big straw hats slinked into a dark room, or at least one of them did. The other one, a very tall man with a huge –presumably- sword wrapped in bandages on his back, didn't look like he was suited to _slink_ anywhere.

Both of them had an air of cautiousness although they weren't actually looking around. The shorter one scanned the room meticulously but only the movement of his bright red eyes betrayed this.

"It's clear," he said monotonously.

With this, the tall man slumped a bit and went over to the other of the two beds in the room. He sat heavily and set his weapon leaning against the wall. He threw the straw hat into a corner and grimaced slightly when raising his left arm tentatively.

The other man still remained by the door observing his companion. Sometimes he would still be surprised in a way when looking at the tall man more closely. His bluish skin was odd enough, but the small, mostly un-blinking eyes and the gills under them were simply downright _freaky_. He wondered if he would ever get completely used to that face, even after spending more time with him. It had only been about three weeks paired with him now, though.

Leaving the shark-like man those red eyes went through the hotel room again, this time looking at the decoration instead of for enemies. It wasn't terrible, but could have been a lot better. Money certainly wouldn't have been a problem for them, but staying in one of the more expensive, and as such, more classy hotels of this town would have been too risky. And despite having a taste for interior decoration, grown on him in the childhood as a member of an elite clan, the man was _not_ going to bring up something as trivial as that.

A small sound escaped the lips of the blue-skinned man after an especially rigorous move of his left arm. Scowling, he gripped the injured shoulder.

"That bad, is it, Kisame-san?" Itachi asked, a hint of contempt slipping into his cool voice.

Kisame offered him a glance that wasn't even angry, but something like amused, and a bit frustrated. Somehow that made the Uchiha feel like a brat. That annoyed him, though not enough to make a scene as his idiot little brother would.

"It is actually hindering my movement. I don't know if just bandaging it will help."

"It was foolish of you to take that hit for me. Surely I could have dodged the attack if you would have let me." In truth, Itachi was more interested in _why_ he had done it.

"Well, I still don't fully understand all that you can do with that eye technique of yours, Itachi-san, and I'm sure I can take hits better than you. …And it was only fair, since those ninjas were after _me_."

Itachi stayed, unmoving, by the door. They had been on a normal, relatively low-risk Akatsuki assignment, their second one together, but they had been ambushed by exceptionally talented Hidden Mist Village Hunter-nins. There had been five of them, most likely the strongest of their order in the village right now. It was impressive that they had managed to track down Hoshigaki Kisame, the Mist's runaway Swordsman, and even successfully ambushed him _and_ his Akatsuki partner, _the_ Uchiha Itachi.

Still, right now they were some wet splotches around the nearby woods and on Kisame's black coat. Itachi did not get dirty in fights.

So it was true they had been after Kisame, but that still didn't explain why he would shield a battle partner with his own body. What was rumoured about Hoshigaki Kisame concerned blood, severed limbs and so on, but nothing about nonsense like camaraderie. So Itachi was curious. It had been a rather long time since anyone had defended him like that, or more precisely, _wanted_ to.

As Itachi remained silent, Kisame turned away and tried to mask his annoyed uneasiness in starting to take his coat off.

"…Fine, I don't know myself why the hell I would take a hit for someone, except this is the first time in a team of any kind since I left the Hidden Mist. Some kind of reflex, maybe."

He opened the buttons of his black and red coat and dropped it on the floor. In the same time Itachi finally moved and placed his hat on his bed. Then he moved closer to Kisame to check his injury.

"And anyways, I'd prefer not to be paired with a freak like, say, Sasori. He and his freaky puppets. Or Orochimaru. Have you _seen_ that tongue of his?" Kisame continued abruptly.

"Like you're the one to talk," mused Itachi silently to himself. The blue-skinned man had now gotten his black cloth and fishnet shirt off too. He had a rather nasty stab wound on his back near the left shoulder blade.

Itachi studied the blood-stained gash with the help of his Sharingan. It wasn't life-threatening, but it might be somewhat serious obstructing the movement of Kisame's left arm. He was lucky to be right-handed and able to swing that huge weapon of his with just one hand.

"It is a wonder you can move that arm, Kisame-san," Itachi said coldly. "A healing technique might be needed, I fear."

Kisame tried to stretch his neck to get a look at the wound, but failed. "…Shit," he sweared. "Can't have that now. The bandage will have to do, at least for some time. Luckily I usually heal quite fast."

Now that they had settled for the rest of the night, Itachi relaxed minutely. He deactivated his Sharingan and his eyes turned back to the normal complete black. He stood still for a while. For some reason he was a little uncomfortable about sharing a room with someone right now. They had decided on one room tonight, to allow Itachi to look at Kisame's injury and to not to get separated in case there were some more Hunter-nins around. That was all fine and logical, but he didn't like the thought of sleeping this close to someone. Maybe he was being overly cautious. For some reason.

"Itachi-san?" Kisame said after a while.

"…What?" Itachi glanced him from the corner of his eyes.

"I can't reach the wound. I can't cleanse it or bandage it myself…"

"…" Or maybe he had seen this coming. Probably, even. He didn't like people. Interacting with people. Especially _touching_ people. That was a part of why he had trained so much with his kunai and eye techniques. With throwing knives, you didn't have to go _near_ them to kill them.

Itachi realized he was being childish. It would be weird not to see to the injury. But wasn't that why he was a part of the Akatsuki? So he could be whatever he was, however weird or unacceptable it was?

But just standing in the middle of the floor like a statue was hardly sensible. Kisame waited patiently, though, probably not wanting to offend Itachi, no matter how odd he was behaving. Maybe it _was_ the Akatsuki way.

"…Fine." He went to the bathroom and filled a basin with water, taking a towel from the closet and dug up bandages from a pouch in his Akatsuki coat. And he got a bottle of sake from the minibar.

"There is no first aid kit. No anticeptic. This will have to do."

"Sure, okay."

Itachi sat on the bed and started to get the blood out of Kisame's wound. When he applied the sake, the shark-like man didn't make a sound, his shoulder only twitched a little.

Treating the injury made Itachi remember the last time he had done it. It had been quite a long time ago. That time it had been Uchiha Shisui, his closest friend. People had said they two were like brothers. In truth, Itachi had wanted it to be something different. Something that had _nothing_ to do with brothers.

Shisui had not wanted it.

Itachi supposed that had made killing him a bit easier, but fortunately not so much so that he would have lost that important "friend" status. Sometimes, thinking back to it, Itachi almost felt silly. Like he had killed Shisui out of jealousy. But it never lasted, and of course in reality it had had nothing to do with it. Itachi had done it to obtain more power, and it had worked.

So he tried not to remember what it had felt like to touch Shisui's pale skin and firm muscles, quite like his own, tried not to feel anything when moving his hands on warm skin and smelling another person so close again.

Kisame was of course very different from Shisui, who had shared all the same Uchiha traits as Itachi, the dark hair and pale skin, beautiful features and pitch-black eyes that hid the Sharingan. But there was a similarity: Shisui had been older and bigger than Itachi, just as Kisame was now. Back then Itachi had been very young, just starting to enter that whole new dimension of life. He would have wanted Shisui to teach him, but he had seemed…almost _disgusted_ when Itachi had finally confessed to him.

Itachi tried again to push back those useless memories. He hoped his face wasn't betraying him, revealing his _thoughts_ to Kisame. He realized he was worrying for nothing, though, because Kisame of course couldn't even see his face in this position. But he felt the other man might just feel the heat his face must be glowing…

Itachi started to wrap the bandage on the wound on Kisame's shoulder blade. To do that, he had to bandage across his broad chest and from his shoulder to the other armpit. To do _this_, he had to put his arms around the bigger man. To hug him.

Itachi's hands moved swiftly, around and around, hugging time and again. He could feel his cheeks burning, he wanted to lick his dry-feeling lips. Every time he leaned in he breathed the scent of Kisame.

He felt like a weirdo, getting excited over a freak like Kisame. Just a moment ago he had thought of him only as that. But something in him…appealed to Itachi. He noticed absent-mindedly that Kisame had practically no hair anywhere. Maybe it was his fish-thing.

Itachi's eyes trailed inconspicuously over the shark-man's body. Actually, it was not like there was something _wrong_ with him. Yes, he was blue and there were the gills and other things, but there were no _faults_. No mistakes. His shirtless upper body was in fact rather perfect. And now that he was without the coat, Itachi could also appreciate his waist and ass as well…

Itachi swallowed hard and forced himself to stop wrapping the bandage and not to let his hands linger any more than necessary. He frowned, trying to force the blush off his cheeks, not to notice the warm feeling in his stomach.

"..Thanks," said Kisame. Itachi didn't respond and quickly went to sit on his own bed. He watched from behind his dark bangs as Kisame got up and tried moving his hand. That made his muscles ripple deliciously and Itachi nearly couldn't stifle a sigh.

Suddenly he wanted Kisame to hold him with those arms. He wanted to kiss those lips and feel those sharp teeth that now caused him to shiver when thinking about them. He wanted to taste him, lick his body to see if he would be as salty as Itachi imagined him to be.

He…wanted someone to be stronger than him. Someone to hold him and protect him and not to look up to him, not not to keep him far. For so long Itachi had always been the best at everything. Someone to be respected, even feared. So alone, not a fellow human at all, even to the other Uchihas.

And he _could_ take care of himself. He had strived for that, for power. He could probably beat Kisame in battle, especially right now. But right now…he didn't want to. He wanted to be the one to lose now. The one to be comforted and protected. …Kisame had protected him. He was certainly physically stronger than Itachi, too. Thinking about that made the Uchiha shiver nearly nonexistently again.

Kisame, now standing up, somehow seemed to notice Itachi's slight movement.

"Are you all right, Itachi-san?" he asked a bit confused. "They _didn't_ hit you, did they? Is it your chakra?"

Itachi looked up all the way from Kisame's sandals to the black, a little past the knee-length pants and across the blue-skinned, muscled chest up to his face, mostly confused, but a little bit _worried_ too. For _him_… The sharp teeth showing just a little…

Itachi was sure he was shining like a lighthouse and panting like a dog, but for now he felt okay not being invulnerable in front of this person. He swallowed again and whispered: "I'm fine."

"You don't _look_ fine…!" Kisame was startled a bit but Itachi, having risen to his feet quickly moved his hands past his cheeks, locking then behind his neck. He was so tall Itachi had to stand on his toes and still couldn't reach him with him standing straight in surprise. Itachi's brow furrowed a bit in desperation, but then he pulled with all his weight, also moving up hanging from his neck. His lips met Kisames and he started to kiss eagerly. He licked both of their lips first, softening his own dried ones and tasting Kisame's cool pair. Then he proceeded fast to explore Kisame's nearly closed teeth with his tongue. He wanted to know how sharp they really were. He scratched his tongue, but not badly enough to bleed. He started to devour Kisame's lips hungrily. The taller man didn't respond, and Itachi could feel his body rigid from surprise. Itachi felt awkward, but he had to continue for a while, aching for response.

Finally Itachi pulled away, releasing his hold on Kisame's neck. He felt embarrassed and avoided Kisame's eyes. Slowly, Kisame straightened his back. Itachi could feel his confusion. There was a painful silence.

"Itachi-san, I…" Kisame's voice trailed off. He swallowed but didn't move. Itachi sensed his tension. He was probably…scared. Itachi felt miserable.

Kisame tried again, after battling himself for the control of his voice. "Itachi-san, I…I don't think I've ever… …Ever thought of _men_ that way…"

Itachi felt like his face was paralyzed, the usual emotionless mask getting to its place. "…I see." He closed his eyes and turned around. Kisame still didn't move.

"…I'll go to sleep then," Itachi said just a hint strained. Kisame got the clue and stepped back, to his bed. Itachi didn't want to look but in his mind's eye he saw Kisame's disturbed expression. Inwardly scolding himself Itachi opened his coat and dropped it on the floor, then lay down on the bed. It had gotten very dark in the room.

He heard Kisame sitting down on the edge of his own bed. With a hushed voice he said: "I'll take the first watch, then…"

Itachi knew he wouldn't sleep himself, either. He lay on the bed staring into the dark ceiling. How stupid of him to act like that, to let his self-control slip. Kisame most likely hadn't seen it coming at all. He was probably sitting there worrying if Itachi would snap and try to kill him because he had refused. Just what the young Akatsuki hadn't wanted.

For some time, he couldn't tell how long, Itachi lay there, eyes closed but not sleeping. If he had been as angsty as his little brother, he would have wallowed in self-pity. Even now he scolded himself in all the ways he could think of. He couldn't help feeling his loneliness and the overall shittyness of this world especially keenly now.

He jumped just a little bit when he heard Kisame move. Then he relaxed when he decided the man was just correcting his position. But then he heard nearly silent footfalls.

"Itachi-san?" Kisame whispered. Itachi stared up, discerning only a dark shape in the dim room.

Left without an answer, Kisame repeated: "Itachi-san?"

"...Yes?" Itachi frowned in the dark. What could he want? Itachi even considered the possibility of Kisame trying to attack him, but it was stupid, of course. He wouldn't wake him up for that.

Kisame didn't answer right away. Itachi felt like he was struggling with himself to say something.

"…I could _hold_ you…if you don't mind, that is," he whispered barely audibly.

Itachi was surprised enough to be at loss for words. Why was he doing this? Because he thought Itachi would try and hurt him if he didn't do what he wanted? He was a member of Akatsuki too, Itachi had thought him to have more pride than that!

In a cold whisper, the Uchiha answered: "You don't need to. I won't hold it against you. You don't need to force yourself…"

"No, no! I wouldn't! What do you take me for, exactly?" Like reading his mind, Kisame sounded annoyed. "…Or I don't know…but I'd like to do _this_, you understand...it's not because of…"

Itachi blinked. The way the other man spoke to him led him to picture a _blushing_ Kisame. Weird.

There was quite a long silence. Itachi's mind was racing. _Wanted_ to? Really? Why? Kisame shifted. He was about to say something.

Itachi forced his vocal chords to work. "…Okay…"

Kisame seemed a little surprised. Itachi couldn't see him well enough to really tell, though.

"Okay," Kisame whispered. He sounded…pleased.

Itachi raised himself to a sitting position and let Kisame sit where his upper body had been. He settled comfortably his back against the wall. When he stopped moving, Itachi lowered his body again and snuggled in Kisame's arms.

Itachi settled against Kisame's still shirtless chest and pulled his legs up, until he was somewhat in a foetus-position, half of him in Kisame's lap. Kisame put his arms around him, making him so pleasantly warm. Itachi breathed out, it was just short of a content sigh. He maybe even allowed himself the smallest of smiles, but you couldn't be sure in the dark.

He started to feel sleepy now and decided to give into it. It was Kisame's watch, too. Just before drifting off he could feel Kisame's head lowering. Itachi supposed he was smelling his hair. For a moment, the Uchiha didn't remember anything at all, he just felt the little pang of happiness for someone being near him.

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Author's notes: Now as I submitted some more fics, I also corrected a few typos and such like I noticed in this one. (People seemed to be noticing them a lot! Ahaha…)


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